2/17/2012, 12:25 p.m.

Officials at Friendship Public Charter School (FPCS) announced recently that 89 students who attend Friendship Collegiate Academy, and 35 students at Academies at Anacostia, have earned full college scholarships from the D.C. Achievers Scholarship Program, which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The college scholarships total $6.2 million.

"Congratulations to our students and their families, and a big thanks to the teachers who have worked so hard to get them to this point in their education," said FPCS chairman Donald Hense,

Friendship Collegiate Academy PCS is a college preparatory high school serving students in grades nine through 12. Collegiate has a 95 percent graduation rate and 100 percent of its graduating class is accepted to college. Some 75 percent of its students are eligible for free- or reduced-price school lunches.

The Academies at Anacostia has been run by FPCS in partnership with D.C. Public Schools since September 2009, when Friendship was invited to assume management of the school by former DCPS Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Since the partnership began, the graduation rate has increased from 57 percent to 79 percent, with 90 percent of graduates being accepted to college. Currently, 95 percent of Anacostia's students are eligible for free or reduced-price school lunches.

The Achievers Scholarship Program was founded in 2007 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. To date, it has provided college readiness, mentoring and support, as well as scholarship financial aid, to hundreds of low-income youth in the District of Columbia.

Friendship's mission is to provide a world-class education that motivates students to achieve high academic standards, enjoy learning and develop as ethical, literate, well-rounded and self-sufficient citizens who contribute actively to their communities.